


Legally Blonde

by Jaseish (curseofbunny)



Category: LoliRock (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Actors, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 14:19:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17225633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curseofbunny/pseuds/Jaseish
Summary: Matching His-and-hers lead roles.





	Legally Blonde

The first time Mephisto saw the tiny blonde, he was a bit skeptical of her ability to play Elle Woods. Call him a critic, but as the guy playing Emmett, he wanted to make sure that he'd be able to believably portray the chemistry.

And then she opened her mouth. Wow.

"Is the legal team anywhere around here? I still have to finish up some paperwork. I'm Elle Woods- I mean, that's not my name, but I'm going to be playing her. Here!" She offered a hand and a smile, light shining in her eyes.

He'd taken her hand and shaken, a little starstruck. "Mephisto Nagendra, or Emmett Forrest." Her eyes lit up even more at that.

"Oh, we're working together? That's so exciting! I'm used to voice acting, where everyone just like dresses in whatever they want, but I'm excited to you know," she gestured at him. "You know?"

He couldn't help but laugh, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I know. It's a lot of fun. And the sharks are that way, still finishing paperwork with our Vivian. Careful, she bites." He couldn't help but tease.

She looked nervous. He felt a little bad.

“Iris Halphas.” She finally offered her hand again. “Elle Woods. They hired me on the spot.”

“I can see why. Not many people can harness the raw power of…” Mephisto waved his hand towards himself, searching for the words as he looked her over. “... Pink.”

Finally he took her hand and shook it.

She was very, very pink. A tissue-paper sundress, thin and gauzy and very pale pink, scattered with darker pink flowers that flowed like cherry blossoms over the soft fabric. Then there was the mauve-y jean jacket, the pink-and-gold bangles on her wrists, rose quartz, if he had to guess, and the mauve-and-gold strappy sandals. Pulling her hair out of her face was a pale pink headband with a twist of gold and darker pink roses, and all he could think was that she looked as if Elle Woods had stepped out of the screen.

On his part, Mephisto looked the part too. Loose t-shirt, a flannel with one sleeve mostly rolled up and the other coming loose, artfully shredded jeans that looked more runaway than runway.

And of course, charming Hollywood smile.

“So where would they be?” Iris asked, fingers playing with the hem of her dress.

“This way, Ms. Woods.” He says it teasingly, but he has a feeling that this is going to be fun.

The walk towards that trailer is mostly him pointing things out and her nodding, running past people who were very busy and wondering why relaxed looking people did look relaxed. Finally, they reach it, as the resident Vivian was stepping down.

Talia Hellenez. A stunning actress with dark brunette hair, long and straight, who tended to dress conservatively even before the role. Today she was in a button-up yellow loose blouse that was tucked into black slacks, peep-toed dark boots, violet lipstick, violet-and-gold jewelry, and her still-blonde hair. She'd dyed it over the winter for an event and kept it as long as she could, but Mephisto had the sad feeling that it would go away soon.

They'd been best friends for years.

Ever since they had to play half siblings on a show as teens, the two had gone to each other's family functions and texted frequently, lamented romantic escapades and cried over ice cream together. And for the musical-and-film combination revival of one of their favorite movies, they'd just had to snag matching his-and-hers lead roles.

Talia grinned as she stepped down, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “So who's this? You never show people around.”

“I'm being nice, Talia.” He draws her name out mockingly, rolling his eyes. “Iris, Talia. Talia, Elle.”

Talia paused. “Elle? Do you mean like…. Elle Woods?”

She had asked Mephisto, but the tiny blonde answers.

“Yeah. I mean, yes, I mean, wow you're tall.”

Talia leaned forward and cupped the girl's cheek. “Looking forward to butting heads with you, princess.”

~

There's a lot going into the movie, all the actors soon learn. They have to sing and dance and act their asses off, through the musical songs, a few original pieces, and in every moment they're onscreen. He doesn't envy Iris.

After meeting her, he looked her up, finding a few of her works. She could sing beautifully, but had stuck to small-time animated projects. There was a few tv shows and kid's cartoons, and three full-length movies. She wasn't a big name by any stretch, but her voice had a good record attached to it.

The problem then, laid with her physical acting. Too much of it was either too stiff and practiced, or too open and not what the script asked for. She could hardly keep a straight face, especially during the serious proposal scene or during any closeups with other characters. And she was short enough that to get the desired face-to-face shots, she always seemed to be propped up and the other person was always leaning. One time they had her four steps up a staircase so she could look Talia- “Vivian”- in the eye when they were both wearing high heels.

Part of Mephisto wondered how they were going to pull this off, and he hated that the thought even crossed his mind.

Still, he invites her to dinner at his apartment, intending to offer her some lasagna and acting tips. He can tell the directors are getting tired, but they don't want to find a new actress when they had a perfectly good, albeit stressful, one on hand.

When she reaches his apartment, and he opens the door, guilt is quick to strike him.

She pushes past him, hardly taking the time to shed her shoes and purse, before she flops onto his couch. Her bottom lip is quivering.

“I… Ris?” He says slowly, following her and slowly perching next to her. “What’s wrong?”

“You’re going to tell me you don’t want to work with me anymore, aren’t you?”

He freezes.

“I was right!” She sags. “God, I feel awful. I should have just said no when they called…”

“Whoa, hey, calm down.” Mephisto catches her wrist. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m ruining this stupid movie. Right?”

In that moment, looking into her cornflower eyes, he’s looking for words…

When the timer goes off.

Mephisto curses and moves to stand. “I will be right back, I promise, but if I don’t move the lasagna is gonna burn.”

She’s patient, luckily, while he’s in the kitchen, staring at the beautifully toasted garlic bread and lasagna, the plantains still soaking in sugar in the fridge and waiting to be sauteed quickly, the wine beside them. He doesn’t know what to say.

“Did you make all of this?”

Her eyes are red-rimmed, but she’s in the doorway, and he nods.

“Yeah, I kind of wanted to impress you with it. I uh… I don’t hate working with you, Iris.”

She steps forward, stealing a piece of bread. “You just don’t like it.”

“No, stop putting words in my mouth.” He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. It was dyed a medium-brownish for the movie, and he thought it looked alright. “I don’t hate it, I don’t not like it. I just…”

Iris took a bite out of the bread. He watched her. It was so… inappropriately timed, a lovely crunching sound.

His eyes widened.

“I got it!”

She blinked in surprise. “What?”

“I know what the movie needs!”

Iris nearly took a step back as he stepped into her space, but held her own as he took the bread back and took a bite too.

“Homemade garlic bread?”

“You.”

“You’re really missing me here, Emmett.” She tests it out, but it sounds perfectly natural too.

“What everyone has been thinking about is the original Elle Woods, or even the musical Elle Woods. But you’re not either of them.”

“And that’s a bad thing.” Iris nods. “I already knew that!”

“No, no it’s not! You just need your own take. You’re not used to being on camera, so weaponize the awkward. While you’re doing the proposal scene, take a bite of bread. When people try to get too close, take a step back. Play up the prissy sorority girl thing! Take the weaknesses and make them part of how you play the character.”

Iris seemed stunned. “Wait, that’s a thing you can do?”

“Yeah! You have such a great voice, and you’re a pretty sweet dancer, it’s just the physical stuff that’s been throwing everyone off. We can talk to the director on tuesday, and we can make this work.”

She smiled. He couldn’t tear the grin off his own face, either.

“I think, um, that might work.” She nodded slowly, setting the bread down. “Wow. I uh, thought I was ruining the movie.”

“You’re not ruining it. We just have to work together to make it your bitch.” He nodded serenely.

Iris nodded. “Yeah, yeah. We got this.”

They spend a moment staring at each other, the smell of the lasagna and buttery garlic bread wafting up.

On tuesday, it takes 3 takes to make the proposal scene finally work. From there, they fall into it, and Iris finally gets that grasp of the prissy princess character. Well, that wasn’t quite right. Elle Woods was a sweetheart and a queen, with such specific knowledge and capability. And seeing Iris tackle the musical numbers, get used to dancing while singing, that was fun.

Finally it comes time for the musical number he was nearly dreading… Take it Like a Man.

For the set they’d gotten a rundown and closed shopping mall, done their fair share to dress it up, and filled it with enough extras and current fashions to make it feel like home. And despite his own years and years of experience, he hadn’t been prepared.

It was nearly grueling. Exhausting work. They kept having to redo it, almost six hours straight of filming and tiny, tiny bagel and water breaks. His voice kept breaking when she got into his space, when he felt her hands on his chest, when he got to do his solo moment and got a dressing up montage.

The suits might have been homey, but there was nothing like seeing her get excited.

It felt like the moment back in the kitchen, only months later and in front of hundreds of people. And even though she wasn’t acting that day, there was Talia, eyes bright and watching from next to the director.

They finally get it right.

Iris’ voice was so sweet and honest, despite the hours and hours on her feet. He was sure she’d have blisters in those petite pink heels, but at the same time, his heart was pounding for real beneath the acting.

When he’s finally back in his trailor, Talia comes to visit.

“You’re gonna ask her out again.” She nods at him, ruffling his hair. “And this time it’s gonna be for real, not for acting tips.”

He sags onto the bench, groaning. She helps him to unbutton the shirt, knowing that if he didn’t escape it soon he might lose his mind.

“But what if she’s actually a really good actress and she doesn’t like me?”

“Then she’ll turn you down nicely.”

He groans pitifully. Talia shoves a water bottle into his hands.

“You’re supposed to tell me she’ll say yes.”

“And I’m not even going to pretend I have that insider intel. I’ve been lucky to even coax her into lunch dates, kid.”

He knew what she meant. Ever since the little lesson, Iris had gotten really good at what she was doing, and just like the both of them, she was too busy. On a good day she’s gently respond to his texts with matching memes, and on a bad one he’d be ignored for hours. He’s unfortunately reminded of the week they shot Ireland and its reprise, as well as all of the salon scenes. The timeframe for getting it all in was impressive, but he did wish that he could have a closer friendship with her.

Talia, on the other hand, had a bit more luck due to all of the girl-day shots. She’s cajoled Iris into some casual sandwich and greek lunch dates, and even once managed to get Iris to her apartment for some thai takeout. Still, though, neither had managed to melt Iris past the nervous first-big-hollywood-production-jitters. They wanted to be her friend, but damn if she wasn’t busy.

“And what if she turns down the dinner this time?”

“Then I’ll ask her, and then we can just parent-trap her into a dinner date with you.”

“Don’t call it that!”

“Dinner date or parent trap?”

“Either.” He leans back, and she sits next to him gently.

Talia leans her head onto his shoulder. “It’ll be fine. Just don’t think it through, and ask her out. Otherwise you’ll kiss her for real on a scene you shouldn’t, and it’ll just be a big mess. Give her a chance in private, you doofus.”

“I wouldn’t kiss her on camera!”

“Really? Because you were swooning when she fixed your collar, every single time.”

His heart ached. She was right.

Amazingly, when he asks, Iris lights up. She even offers to host, and he, stunned, agrees. He decides to bring some wine with him, try and get the moment just right to ask her…

She greets him at the door and beckons him inside, talking the whole time. She wasn't as good a cook as him, but she could make a mean stir fry. He merely chuckled and leaned in the frame of the kitchen, offering her the bottle when she came back after stirring it.

After she sets the wine down- on the counter, no less- he starts to open his mouth and say something, but she cuts him off by stepping into his space.

It'd shifted into winter without them even noticing, and the blonde was in loose jeans, a pink tank top, and a long, loose cardigan. Even within the conversation one side had slipped off of her shoulder.

She reached up and caught his collar. His face went red.

“Come on, Emmett.” She says it so teasingly, and is lucky that she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

He dips down and cups her hips, her hands on his cheeks and guiding them, and if he were more inclined to be gooey about romance, he'd say that sparks flew. As a realist, he'd merely say that it was perfect. It was a sweet kiss, with her lip gloss getting onto his mouth so he could taste the barely-there hint of watermelon.

After a long, long moment, however, she pulls back. His cheeks must be completely red, but hers were merely dusted pink.

“Mistletoe.” She mouths, pointing up.

He isn't sure whether to laugh or cry.

He doesn't know how to ask her out.

**Author's Note:**

> Let Me know what you think ;)


End file.
